


Blood and Halfways

by Tweedle_Deed



Series: Inspired by The Post-Apocalyptic World of Tomorrow [1]
Category: Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name
Genre: Alcohol, Blood Drinking, Demonic Possession, Drinking, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Vampires, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:47:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tweedle_Deed/pseuds/Tweedle_Deed
Summary: The gang have a party, Conrad and Doc Worth have some fun, before they have to follow Hanna into another supernatural mess
Relationships: Conrad Achenleck/Doc Worth
Series: Inspired by The Post-Apocalyptic World of Tomorrow [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817218
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Blood and Halfways

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Up in Smoke](https://archiveofourown.org/works/495597) by [DesdemonaKaylose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesdemonaKaylose/pseuds/DesdemonaKaylose). 



Once they came back to the RV, exhausted, Worth watched as Conrad all but ran to the mini-fridge. Worth grinned, little bitch must have been hungry, in agreement, Conrad's arm withdrew from the fridge, two blood bags in hand. "Ain't ya gonna ration em Connikins?" Worth smirked as Conrad glared daggers at him, mouth moving to bite into a bag. He stopped, sighed and open the hole where a tube would be attached, clearly the hunger hadn't completely overtaken his awareness of scarcity, Worth couldn't help but be somewhat grateful, fag knew how to keep his vampirism at bay.

"They aren't exactly fresh, Worth." Conrad retorted, before sucking down a good portion of the bag, Worth restrained himself from making a gay joke right then, he'd save it for when they were in the bedroom, piss him off before nap time. "I've waited long enough anyway, and your bloody cuts all over aren't helping matters." Finishing the bag with a tinge of desperation.

"Ya sayin' ya want me Connie? Can' resist thus fer much longer?" Gesturing to his abysmal appearance. Conrad had returned to a simmering in silence, holding the bag as if he was avoiding guzzling it immediately after having a whole pint. Vamps weren't built to drink a single pint, Worth knew, but Conrad seemed to pretend it was. At least when he wasn't in a blood-frenzy.

Hanna was paying attention, Worth could tell with the way his eyes watched Conrad, a little concerned. He turned to Worth, "Dude, we're still with civilisation right now, well as close as you can call it right now, but anyway so maybe we should stock up on blood bags now?" Worth yawned, he was planning on bartering his medical expertise for a few pints the next day, he was a definitely guilty of prescribing blood drawing to those with little knowledge of medicine, hey wasn't doing much harm at least. 

"I know 'anna, I'm gonna git on tha' tomozza, once princess finishes her dinner. Looks like she's sucking good and proper." 

Conrad was starting on the second bag, hunger in his eyes. He released himself from the bag, a little blood leaked onto his chin, he was looking very twilight vampiric, the blood tasteful, rather than soaking him like after a fight. Worth preferred the messy blood. "Shut up Worth, I'm going to finish if you just shut up for once, just shut up." He returned to the bag, draining it in less than two seconds; vampires could drink bloody fast when they wanted. Worth chuckled internally at challenging fagula to a drinking contest, he was pretty fast himself when it came to gulping down liquid, maybe he'd spike Connie's blood one day, get them both nice an drunk. "Here." Conrad angrily shoved the bags in front of worth, "You can wash them out, you hack." His tongue absently licking blood from his lips, fucker definitely enjoyed the stuff, even if he treated it as purely a necessity. 

"But ya love those woman type chores, cleaning dishes and the like." Worth taunted, time to piss of the fucker. He lifted the bag, crumpled and flat, eyeing the blood within. An idea sparked in the back of his mind, bubbling with excitement Worth leaned back, maneuvering long legs onto the table. "Ya know, it's I bitta a waste, still some good stuff in 'ere." There wasn't a lot, but Worth figured it'd be enough for what he was planning. "Coz I'm gonna be usin' vodka to clean these out, save tha' proper stuff for the needles. An'...".

"Worth, are you suggesting I drink the gross bloody vodka? Because if you think I'm getting drunk you must be drunk yourself." He pinched his beak. 

"Oi come on princess, sure 'Anna's up fer a lil drinky, think we deserve it." Hanna perked up at that. Conrad noticed. 

"Oh god, are you serious?" Worth's eye twinkled, got him. Theatrically he moved towards Conrad, standing far closer than the vampire was comfortable. Reaching his hand behind Conrad to grab the vodka from the cupboard, the bottle was mostly full, thankfully Worth had stocked up on booze when they'd come across an abandoned liquor store, he suspected the amount left was due to the town being abandoned early on, before people had truly accepted the end of the world. Conrad, for his part had quieted, eyeing the bottle somewhat wistfully. Interesting. Perhaps Connie wasn't as much of a pussy as he'd thought. "How do you intend to get that in there, pray tell?".

As an answer, Worth conjured a funnel, tubing attached, it looked rather... used.

-A-

It took about half an hour for Worth to empty the pinkish vodka into a mug, glasses were more hassle than they worth. "Right, 'anna, we got a lil lemonade from Mussus what's 'er face, so ya can 'ave that, I'm 'appy drinking booze straight, years o practice." Felt like a bloody high school party, but if he was honest, he could use a classic booze up with someone other than him self. Greenguy McNameless sat across from Worth staring uncomfortably, unlike the other undead man, he couldn't drink at all, not like that'd stop him sticking around, he was essentially hanna's bodyguard after all. Worth decided he was done thinking and took a swig from the bottle, Hanna could bite him if he had a problem. Then poured a generous amount into the lemonade Hanna had procured, Doc Worth drank to get drunk, so did Hanna, even if he didn't mean to. Worth filled his mug almost to the brim, watching the clear liquid the same way Conrad looked at a bleeding man, God he loved the burn of booze in his throat. 

Quietly Conrad sipped his blood-vodka, grimacing a little, probably wasn't the ideal ratio for the fagpire. "You know, I really miss going to the bar, I couldn't really afford it much, but it was nice you know. " Hanna said, looking down at his drink, "Being able to relax with friends and just let go, problems not being world ending, just..." he sighed, "having a laugh." Worth thought of Lamont, all the drinks they'd shared, bloody Hanna making this sentimental.

"Roight, we're doin' tha' now, so don't ya go cryin' on me, less 'ave a nice drink, get buzzed and laugh yeah?" Hanna nodded. "Oi Connie, how's ya drink? Ya better not turn into more of an annoying chick, but hey if ya end up on my lap later I ain't complaining." Conrad blanched.

"My drink is fine, Worth, I'm not a sorority girl so be assured I'm not ending up on your lap." Worth just winked at him and took another long drink from his mug. 

-A-

Hanna was the first to show the effects, face blushing, and words slurring, the zombie glanced with a look that told Worth he'd seen this Hanna before, and was worried. He was telling the story of how he met the Zombie and Conrad, which Worth had heard before and joined in once he became a character. "Wow, itsss so weird that I met you two the same night, how did I survive with just Worth." He smiled sheepishly, "No offense, just you're not the type to follow me into a case."

"Oi, I followed bloody Conrad to save ya sorry arse." Hanna's smile broke into something cheeky. 

"You did. To help good old Connie." His voice laced with knowledge that Worth decided he'd leave unsaid. "But anyway, so this tall, green man comes knocking on my door and I was like holy shit you're DEAD, but then he's really chill right Oswald? So I'm like 'I have an assistant, this'll be really helpful' THEN Connie turns up, all alive and torn up, my landlady liked you, I think she thought we were hooking up though - wait she's probably alive, smoked all day, probably holed up somewhere with a rifle, Worth you'd like her, you've got a lot in common - anyway..." Worth could see Conrad snickering into his cup.

"They do." He murmured, "blond, smoke like chimneys, old, talk dirty." Worth wasn't one to get insulted, but he'd met the old bat once, and he content help but kick Conrad under the table, harder than when he did it to tease the vampire. 

"Nah, sweetcheeks, I'm much more 'andsome." 

"Anyway, so I follow Connie and find Adelaide as a bat, bet Connie invited her in to feed her thinking she was a regular bat." Conrad's silence at that spoke volumes, unlike Hanna, whose lack of silence spoke volumes, god he could run his mouth, especially with a few shots worth of vodka in him. "Then she takes Connie to the roof and he's dead. Sorry about that Connie."

"I'm not saying you're innocent here, but if it wasn't for you I'd probably still be dead, just not walking anymore." Conrad sipped his drink again, he hadn't had much, Worth couldn't have that, he was on his third mug. 

"So I was like 'you need blood' and took you to good old Doc, once you two saw each other you were like magnets, fighting but magnets. Ya know I really thought you were gonna eat him Connie, hehe, wasn't sure how bad a new vamp would be." If Conrad could blush, Worth was sure he would be just then. 

"I wasn't, it was just a taste, I'd never had blood before so it was just... new. If I'd known what Worth was like I might have gone to the trouble of eating him properly." He was probably trying to sound vindictive, but it only made Worth smirk.

"Ya tellin' me I was ya first time Connie? I feel touched. But bloody hell Hanna, ye stroll in with two dead fucks I've never seen before asking blood, and ya expect me to think ya ain't gone dark side? Yer lucky I don't bother with all that business, otherwise mighta called the cops." Worth carried on Hanna's story, Conrad sputtered at that.

"The back alley, hack doctor with a draw of unpaid bills for black market organs would call the police?! You're more insane than I thought, and I know you're a nutcase." 

"Alright princess, so I wouldn't call the cops fer my own skin, but I never thought lil old Hanna would turn someone into a vamp, seen 'im do a lot of other stuff, but never take someone's humanity. Never got to meet the human Conrad, probably even more of a little bitch, scared of tha dark." 

"It's 2am!" Hanna cut in, turning on the radio, 'Don't Stop Believing' blared from the speakers, crackling. Hanna started dancing, he was definitely drunk now. Fuck it, Worth downed his drink, proving to Connie that he could equal him in a drinking contest. He grabbed the cold white hand next to him and dragged the vampire from his chair, Conrad followed, still grasping his mug. 

Worth tapped the mug "Get it down ya, can't have the pole up yer arse all night." Conrad hesitated, then complied, probably out of spite. They started to dance, Hanna joining them, the alcohol lightening the load he'd taken upon himself after the apocalypse. They sang and danced until the radio returned to static, Hanna running over to insert his Queen's greatest hits tape, once Hanna started dancing there wasn't much you could do to stop him. 

Conrad was smiling, a rare occurrence, and Worth smiled back, the alcohol definitely helping them along. 'Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy' came on, Hanna suspiciously close to the player. Worth went with it, thrusting his hips gratuitously wherever slightly relevant, he could see Conrad wanting to bark at him, get angry, but he'd mellowed enough to simply scowl. Worth approached cupping the vampire's face, raising his eyebrows, Conrad slapped his hands away, not drunk enough to let go fully. Worth sidled over to the empty mugs, portioned out more drink between his and Conrad's, none for Hanna, the zombie seemed to agree from his slight nod as Worth bypassed his. He handed Conrad the mug, which he looked down at with confusion, "I can't drink this Worth, no more blood, if you'd told me you were planning this I wouldn't have drank both bags." His fang worried at his lip as he talked about blood. Worth took out his scalpel with a flourish, as he'd done too many times when the vampire wanted a little drinky of something other than blood. 'Don't Stop Me Now' played as blood trickled from Worth's wrist and down the side of Conrad's mug, making it potable for the vampiric palette. He could see the appreciation in Conrad's face, despite how he fought with the doctor and shouted how he didn't care, a little sharing of blood went a long way in lowering the guard of the failpire. 

"Right, coz that's my blood in there, I make the rules. I wanna see who can put it away fastest, I want the bragging rites that I can chug faster than vamp, even as shitty a one as you." Worth grinned, "Ready?"

"Wait, what do you mean? I can't drink that quick, I'm not some boozer, just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean anything." Conrad protested. 

"Connie, ya tellin' me ya ain't noticed how ye can drink a man quick as anything, even the bags go down fast when ya hungry. Either yer dense or plain lyin'" Conrad non-blushed at that, lying then. 

"Fine, I'll do it, only because you've been so gracious as to share your vile blood with me." Conrad relented, with a touch of sarcasm, because he couldn't ruin his prissy reputation by acting grateful now could he?

"Oi, Hanna, get ya drunk arse over here. Be ref for our drinkin' competition, see who's better at swallowing, am I right sweetheart?" Conrad seemed nonplussed at Worth making a gay joke that himself, well Worth had never said he wasn't into blokes too, only that he liked ladies. 

"Okay! I'll count to three. Three... two... one... now!" The now corresponded to the 'now' that came over the speakers, but Worth was busy letting the vodka flow directly into his stomach, vodka was a bit of a teenage girl drink, he was a whiskey man, but nowadays booze was booze. 

"Done." Conrad said, staggering a little. Jesus christ, Hanna had barely finished the sentence. Worth swallowed once before lowering his mug. 

"Too bad, seems no-one can out-swallow fagerella here." Worth felt himself drinking deeper into drunkenness, God he missed this. Conrad was dancing now, Worth's plan had worked a treat. Hanna was dancing with him, looking impressed, and a little green, Worth, suspicious tapped him on the shoulder, "Hanna ya lookin' pukey, maybe head outside?" The zombie was standing before the doctor had said "outside".

" Ergh, no I just," he hiccupped "wowza Connie, I've never seen someone..." he stopped abruptly, with that the zombie had removed Hanna from the RV, leaving Worth with the snaggletooth vampire. 

Worth decided to keep up the dancing, screw it, he was gonna be a full on teenage girl tonight. It was odd dancing with Conrad, no fighting, no bitching, no teasing. It was almost like they liked each other. And Worth could say he almost liked it. At some point they held hands, getting closer and closer, until their bodies were touching, then mouths. Worth couldn't help but grin against the other man's lips, Conrad's long fang scraping Worth's lip. The doctor didn't mind, he tasted his own blood mingling between their mouths, Conrad deepened the kiss. Worth wasn't sure whether the blood or booze was too thank, he thought it was a mixture of the two, as much as he thought anyway. He felt fuzzy, he was the sensation in his mouth, this hunger he felt from Conrad as they fell against Hanna's sleeping nook, melding into one another. 

They only parted, messily when they heard the door open as the zombie and Hanna entered the vehicle. As quicky as they split, it wasn't lost on the zombie what they'd been up to, neither was it to Hanna, who despite being drunk, had eyes as wide as saucers, and a grin the size of a dinner plate. Goddamn Hanna.

Conrad moved to the front on the RV, head on the wheel. Worth stayed at the back. "Hanna you little shit, blue-balling me like that." 

"Sooorrryyyy." Appearing genuine, although still overwhelmingly delighted in the confirmation of his suspicions.

"We were not expecting to you to be doing that, in our defense." The zombie interjected. "I'm sorry to say Hanna ought to be asleep soon, he is not nocturnal, and is rather intoxicated." Hanna seemed reluctant to head to bed, but his yawning and swaying overpowered him. 

Conrad, overhearing the zombie made his way to the back of the RV, walking in that way drunk people do when they don't want people to know they are drunk. Worth followed him into the bedroom, finding Conrad taking his shoes off before lying on the bed. Worth joined him, neglecting the shoe removal, piss off princess a bit, can't be too nice now. The room was spinning. 

He turned to face Conrad, who was facing him too, eyes focused on Worth's lip. Worth felt a little blood leak from the wound. Before he could wipe it away with his tongue, Conrad was on him again, licking the blood, then continuing into a kiss. Waste not want not, Worth thought, returning the kiss. Before he knew it Conrad was removing his dirty shirt and Worth was removing Conrad's, the vampire was so pale, body like marble, it was amazing, bit of a butter face was Conrad. As Worth removed the belt from Conrad's trousers, his wrist caught, where it had scabbed over. Blood dribbled lightly from the cut, Conrad's pupils dilating at the smell, drunk vamps couldn't resist blood, he discovered, as Conrad abandoned the kiss moving swiftly down to where Worth's wrist was. Worth moved his arm to allow Conrad access, he had to admit he was kind of into Connie letting out his animal side, getting a little dirty. Conrad was pretty preoccupied with the bleeding wrist, the rhythmic tug of feeding bringing Worth down from his high. "Connie sweetheart, yer going a bit strong there, come back down 'ere." Conrad, opened his eyes, coming back to himself a bit, popping his mouth from the wrist. But instead of going back into a kiss, he flopped down next to Worth on front. 

"Jesus, sorry. I'm a bit drunk I think. Blood is so good you know." Conrad murmured. 

A bit disappointed that it seems their fun was over and the vampire had moved onto pillow talk, Worth took off his own trousers, for comfort rather than anything else. He kept his hopes up though. "I wouldn't know Connie, I ain't a vamp. Tastes like shit to me." 

Conrad followed suit, removing his trousers the rest of the way. "It's weird, it tastes the same as before, when I was human." He turned on his side, looking at Worth. "It's like my brain decided that it actually really liked the taste. Like when you don't like olives as a child, but you like them as an adult, but way more extreme, why am I telling you this?"

Worth grunted, "I still hate olives." He had turned over to face Conrad now, noticing his blood on the other man's face. He decided to not tell Connie, he liked it there. 

"Of course you would. I'm pretty sure you only eat bar peanuts, alcohol and I don't even want to know what drugs." Conrad retorted, his heart not in it. "Why are we in bed? Dawn's not for a few hours." 

"Well Connie, we were getting down and dirty before ya started eating me. And not in the downstairs sucky way either." He smirked a little, he didn't want to completely ruin his chances.

"Oh fuck, Hanna saw us." Conrad groaned, palming his forehead. "He's never going to shut up about it." 

"Ah you'd be surprised, Hanna can keep quiet occasionally, I'll just make sure this is one occasion." 

Conrad was leaning a little closer again, Worth sensed a spark in his eyes. Worth closed the gap, gently kissing Conrad, in very un-Worth fashion. Conrad reciprocated.

-A-

Worth awoke with a headache, his mouth sticky and dry, he felt the weight of Conrad next to him, unmoving, but that's what came with sleeping with a dead man. He maneuvered himself up, squinting in the dark at the slight glow of the vampire's white skin, did vampires get hangovers? He couldn't be sure, he hoped so so he could make Conrad's worse. He fiddled for his pack if cigarettes, they'd dwindled recently and he was stuck with one every two days, he hated bloody rationing. He found the pack in his coat pocket, thrown on the floor in the excitement of the night before. The night before, he grinned around the cigarette in his mouth, lighting it. He'd gotten closer with Conrad than ever before, not expecting to, they'd drank a lot, and danced and kissed and got half naked in bed and Conrad had drank from him. He wiped his lip, feeling the scabbing from a stray fang catching him in a drunken snog. He smoked as he looked at Conrad, it was probably still daylight by how deep in sleep he was. He still had Worth's blood on his face, his hair was messy, glasses askew, Worth plucked them from his face, placing them on the bedside table, he was surprised they'd lasted this long with how many messes they'd gotten themselves into, once the glasses broke, the vampire could kiss his eyesight goodbye. Worth made a mental note to keep an eye out for glasses in any house they squatted in, maybe he could ask the locals if there was anywhere that produced glasses, see if he could find a similar prescription. Come to think of it, Hanna had the same problem, although didn't have the vampiric lifespan that risked centuries of blindness. Why would a vampire need glasses anyhow? It was the antithesis if vampire elegance, but that was Connie, had to screw up everything vamp related, didn't even have two full size fangs. He couldn't imagine Conrad as a 500 year old vampire, jaded and mystical, alone in the world. Worth had thought about turning, he couldn't say he'd mind, but right now blood was hard enough to come by without doubling their need, as well as eliminating himself as a source. He wasn't sure what Conrad would do either, he didn't think he'd pull a 'life as a vampire is hell', he seemed at most inconvenienced by his undead state, apart from when the bloodlust kicked in and he massacred their enemies in a fight, that put him on edge, morals still help him back from being a proper vampire, Worth couldn't say he minded really. 

He finished his cigarette, realising he'd been staring at the vampire while his brain ran away. He smirked at the stupid dinosaur tattoo on his back, imagining a 19 year old Conrad thinking it was the coolest thing ever. He stood, redressing in last night's clothes. The smell didn't matter anymore, not that it mattered to Worth before the apocalypse. 

He opened the door of the bedroom slowly, letting out the smallest amount of sun as he could and slid through. Hanna was in the kitchen area with the zombie, eating a dry looking sandwich. "Evening, Doc!" He murmured through breadcrumbs, "Good night last night?" He smiled, a twinkle in his eye.

Worth decided to roll with it, "'ncredible, kept me up alllll night." Hanna seemed too happy, it wasn't a secret that they liked each other, it wasn't even the first time they'd kissed, but last night felt more normal, like it was second nature. They hadn't even had sex, just a lot of making out and touching, Worth couldn't say he disliked it. "Need some water." He broke the few seconds of silence. Hanna threw him a water bottle he'd been drinking from the day before. Worth unscrewed the cap, downing a good portion of the liquid. "Got one 'ell of a headache." He complained, wincing as a ray of sun came through the window. 

"I've been talking to the locals about reorganizing and helping them form some kind of democracy. There's lots of injured and they could really do with the help, not many doctors." Hanna gestured out the door, "I'll show you where to go after I finish eating." 

Worth decided that he ought to eat too, while they had the rations. He took out the stale bread that was in a plastic wrapping, some tomato and some meat of questionable origin, people took to hunting for meat and saving most of the crops for human consumption. He sliced and put the ingredients together, it looked terrible. He bit in, chatting to Hanna about the situation with the refugees and CUT members. "Awright, good fer some trading, wot do we need? Food an' tha like." 

"Well, we need more food, long life stuff preferably, cans and the like. Um, pens, pens are good, medical stuff maybe? Oh, blood, remember blood. Toilet paper! See what people offer, can't be too picky, we'll need stuff to trade anyway." Hanna said, finishing his sandwich, he rubbed his hands together to free any stray crumbs and brushed his red hair back with his fingers. 

Worth put down what was left of his sandwich, he'd finish it later. He grabbed his black doctors bag where we stashed his blood drawing kit, some empty bags and what was left of his medical supplies. "Lead the way."

-A-

Hanna strode through the neighbourhood like he owned the place, greeting the odd cowboy hat wearing local with a cheery wave every so often. Hanna had this air about him that people were drawn to, one way or the other. 

Eventually they reached a small doctor's office that was functioning as a hospital, there wasn't a large one nearby, and from what they had to deal with when they plundered one, it was probably a good thing. There were injured people, mostly minor, the major injuries came in a few days ago and nowadays that almost always meant death. Some were bed ridden, dealt with with bleeding bandages and wet towels, proper medicine wasn't really available anymore, bedrest being the cure all people relied on, that and chopping off infected parts. He headed towards the functioning doctors, he wasn't sure if they were real doctors, likely nurses who had to take on new responsibilities, not that he could reproach them, he was a med school drop out, he had gone pretty bloody far in the system before calling it a day. 

He was pointed towards the longer term patients as well as anything potentially supernatural. He liked getting his hands dirty, useful hobby he'd picked up, now infinitely more valuable than blood money. 

-A-

After an hour or so seeing to patients, he decided it was time to collect princess' dinners for the journey ahead, one day he'd learn how to be a real vampire, save Worth a hell of a lot if trouble. He went into the waiting room area, where some family members were sitting and making conversation. "Anyone here for Jenkins?" The surname of a woman he'd been seeing to. A woman stood, tall and muscular, good. "She's doin' well, but I'm gonna need some trade, ya know how it is." They'd moved towards the edge of the waiting room, she was leaning against the wall, looking at him questioning.

"I ain't got much, little food, that kinda thing." She had a twang, but not as noticeable as most of the town. 

"Brill' we need a bitta food, but if ye willing to donate some of ye blood, I could cut ya a deal." He left it ambiguous what the blood was for, it wasn't a secret they had a vamp with them, but if she thought it was for medical reasons, that would be ideal. 

"This for that vampire you travel with?" She asked, well she wasn't stupid. 

"It is yup, tha ain't a problem t' ya?"

"I don't care where it goes, if it's payment for Sophia's health, take it. Rather that than use up supplies." Worth nodded, a nice practical woman. "I want to wait here until she is recovered, you can take it when we return home."

"She's havin' a little nap, she'll be right as rain by mornin', jus' give 'er lotsa rest and water, an' keep 'er clean. Ya can remove the cast in 2 months, better leave it on longer, but no longer than 3" The other woman, Sophia, had had a fall that broke her leg, dumb accidents like that could kill you. "I'll come give ya knock tomorrow eve, write ya address down fer me."

She did. 

-A-

Worth had asked several more family members for blood, a few declined, offering food and supplies instead. Hanna's sway meant no one questioned payment as necessary, if you found an ally, you didn't piss them off. In total 5 people were willing to donate, not bad, he had 10 bags from the beginning of the apocalypse, he'd started with more, but the vampire's habit of biting and general usage had dwindled the number. It was night, Conrad was walking around after Hanna and wandering off by himself. He'd cleaned himself up, he was pretty good at it seeing he had no reflection, stupid vamp rule, spat in the face of physics even worse than the other stuff. It was usual for Conrad to keep his distance when Worth collected blood, it didn't make people all that giving with a bloodthirsty monster leering in the background, not many people liked the idea of having their blood drank, even if they accepted his offer, the idea was best kept abstract. Once Conrad had absentmindedly drank from a bloodbag Worth handed him right after drawing it from someone, the patient left quite abruptly after that. Worth hadn't cared much except it made finding donors harder, he'd found it quite funny, the way the vampire realised what he'd done, and sputtered an "Oh fuck." It was easy for things to lose their taboo when you lived if what was basically a travelling freak show. 

He was in the kitchen of one donor, going through the whole, left arm, keep it down, open and close your hand, tell be if you feel dizzy. He didn't care if they felt like shit, gotta play the part sometimes. The man he was currently poking with a needle was young, that was a theme with donors, maybe stupidity, maybe understanding, maybe health. Blood oozed through the tube, eventually reaching the bag. Now the waiting game started. He tried to be agreeable with donors, repeat helpers were valuable, so made small talk, sparingly. He told stories of adventures, of how they defeated the CUT, how he came to be travelling across the country. He thought about how he'd probably never see Australia again, how Conrad would probably never see England again. The reasons they'd left have to stand strong. Conrad might, with age, he forgot how much more time the vampire would have, lucky bastard. 

Thirty minutes passed before Worth released the man, sealing the bag. He thanked him, and left. 

Conrad was near the RV, looking up at the stars, "I've been thinking." He said, as Worth sat down next to him. 

"'Grats." Worth muttered.

"About life, about where we are. The world is really big again, and really small." Conrad turned to Worth, "We're never going home again. I don't even think I want to, but before there was always an option." 

"I turned me back on tha place when I was 10 never gone back." Worth responded.

Conrad looked a little shocked "Never? In over 20 years? I went back once, didn't tell my mother, I wanted to see London again, I wasn't even from London, but I studied there. It was this bloody trip to the US I took on break that made me decide to run away, once I'd finished my degree. But I did go back, it was my country." He trailed off, thinking aloud.

"Think abou' it thus way princess, if neither o' us 'ad moved 'ere, to good ol' U S of A," overly patriotic, irony in his tones, "we'd never 'ad met, you'd jus' be a dead, human artist in some fancy flat with yer own blood on a tissue in yer 'and." He thought about what he'd do, if we was a in Aus, probably the same thing, more desert, more dangerous animals, still fun, he wouldn't have known Lamont either. 

"We don't know if England's like this. It might have-" he cut himself off, England had fallen a day or so before America, if anywhere was okay, they hadn't shown it. Perhaps they were functioning, just selfish, keeping to themselves. 

"Doesn' matter now, we're 'ere, yer dead, we're together." He stood, not bothering to wipe dirt from his jeans, he opened the RV door and entered, retrieving 3 blood bags from his medical bag, shoving them into the mini-fridge. He turned to find Conrad behind him, silent when he wasn't jabbering on. "Ya gettin' another two tomorrow, ain't no more, so don't get greedy like las' night." Conrad scowled but didn't say anything, embarrassed probably. Worth patted for a smoke, stopping himself, he'd had his ration for today, fuck. He'd have to barter more tomorrow. "There ain't much fight left 'ere, showing down." He should be recovering, he still had a broken arm that he'd been treating less than ideally. 

"Worth, can we just have a week where we're not running for our lives? I want to just rest, for once, I want to be a person, I wasn't longing for this like you." He pressed his eyes with his fingers, disheartened. The vampire didn't cry easily, but Worth thought he saw a slight wetness when he removed his hand from his face. "I haven't made art for so long I draw, yeah, but I haven't been able to sit down and just do. Don't call me a fag, Worth, I can't be bothered to deal with your shit. Can you just treat me like a human, for once?" 

Worth was extremely, incredibly tempted to point out that Conrad was in fact, not human. "Sweetheart, that world is gone, ya know tha', but ye got Hanna and the zombie, ya ain't alone." He was almost comforting him, like he did with Lamont, teasing him, and being there, too emotional for him, get on with it. 

"I haven't got you then." Conrad looked up at him, smiling a little. 

"Course ya don', I can't stand ya." Worth replied, kissing Conrad on his forehead, that'd piss him off, distract him. He felt a knuckle on his jaw. Good. 

-A-

They ended up hanging in that town for another 3 days, Worth collected a few more bloodbags, one of the best hauls he'd gotten in a while. Only one had they completely used up the bags, but Worth had successfully used an old water bottle, it was messier though, but would become more of a necessity as the years continued. Worth had mentioned using a gallon jug and just keep all the blood together, that idea didn't go down well, not to mention it might put off the donors. Worth smirked at the image of himself with a jug of blood next to some poor housewife. 

The nights had moved from the RV to an abandoned house nearby, one thing to say was real estate wasn't much of an issue anymore, Worth didn't want to think too much about what it meant, Hanna had made a show of respecting the home, despite Conrad being able to enter. Family photos taunted them, corpses without the meat. It was like they were a hermit crab, taking the shell house as their new home, even if it was temporary. Especially because it was temporary. 

Hanna sat at the table, drinking stale tea, Worth was doing the same, but with a healthy dose of whiskey. Conrad sat too, nothing in front of him, he hadn't had blood since the night they got drunk and it looked like it was weighing on him. 

"I think I'm nearly finished organising a sort of government, well not really but I've got people who know what they're doing." Hanna stroked the side of his coffee cup, absently. "And I've heard people talking about demon possession a few miles over, and," it was obvious where Hanna was going, "I think it's time to head off again." Worth breathed out an internal sigh of relief, more mercenary work, keep him busy. 

Conrad found some paints and canvas, screaming girlishly at them, although claimed they were "Uninteresting materials" but he missed painting, so that's what he was doing, upstairs there were 3 paintings. One of the zombie, Conrad had mentioned his subtle expressions being akin to an undead Mona Lisa. Another was a cityscape, coughing people lining the streets, from a distance it looked ordinary, but as you let the strokes form themselves into figures, you saw the corpses on the road, the death and disease clouding the familiar street. The third, only just sketched out with brushstrokes was a sleeping figure, that Worth was suspicious of. Conrad had made it abundantly clear that the materials were coming with them.

"Driving all night, can't wait." Conrad moaned. 

-A-

Hanna had managed to organise the locals enough, informing them on the ways of the treaty and how other pockets of civilisation were handling things. Funny seeing this man in his mid-twenties organising a group of frantic, middle-aged church goers. They left that following night, the RV packed with supplies, including Conrad's paintings wrapped in bin bags and shoved under the bed, alongside the rest of the canvases and paints. He mentioned something about recording history, representing their time through art, pretentious shit. 

Conrad was behind the wheel, looking exhausted, Worth suspected he still hadn’t had anything to eat, idiot. They head off onto the night, moving fast down a dusty road, towards another adventure where they'd probably end up in deep shit. He couldn't wait. 

-A-

It only took 2 hours for something to go wrong. They followed the road to a small town called Dunedin, it was on the coast, would've been a tourist trap. Now it was a fishing town, with sunburned people on boats, fish around their ankles. It smelt of salt and fish guts. 

Hanna made them park in the outskirts of town, approaching a group of fishermen. The zombie followed him, an intimidating presence that kept the men at bay. Worth was standing outside the RV, smoking, Conrad was next to him, not smoking. They watched as Hanna was lead into town. 

“Should we follow?” Conrad asked. 

“Might as well.” Worth muttered, flicked the butt of his cigarette onto the grimy concrete. He stepped in the direction of Hanna, following at a distance. Conrad a few steps behind him. He wasn't his normal self, less arguing, more silent resentment, a lack of energy. 

They walked in silence until they reached a house, it wasn't old or new, it was completely unremarkable. Hanna was already inside, so Worth entered, finding Hanna talking to a man. He left Conrad outside.

“My daughter, she's... well you've seen the exorcist? It's that.” The man was saying, Hanna nodding. 

“Ah a classic demon possession, they're more common now, there's lots of vulnerable people, lost. I can do some stuff that I know works, hopefully it's just looking for some fun, they leave when it becomes more trouble than it's worth. Priests and the like don't do much I'm afraid, it's old magic stuff. Let's get started, no time to waste!” And with that, he was upstairs.   
Worth caught the man by the arm, “Ay, ya mind lettin' ma frien' in? I can't figure ya lock out.” He suspected an absentminded invitation would come from that. 

The man tugged his arm away. “Who the hell are you?” 

“We’re with that redhead there.” He shouted up the stairs, “Hanna, tell ‘im to let Connie in will ya?”

A voice came back down, “Yeah dude, let my bro in, he's a good one.” Giving away the game.

The man, Worth still had no idea what his name was, unlatched the door to a fuming Conrad. “Hanna says I can trust you, so you can come in.” With those words, the barrier was lifted and Conrad entered. Stupid rule. 

“Thanks.” Conrad said bluntly, as they followed Hanna upstairs.   
The girl looked like she was straight out the exorcist, the man was right, greenish skin, head turning, the whole 9 yards. She'd been cuffed to the bed, her wrist irritated by the iron. 

“Okay, that's definitely a demon. You guys leave me alone with her, I'll work my magic.” Hanna’s too blue eyes faced them, then the girl. Worth shrugged and shut the door. He kept in the corridor, ready to treat the bastard. Glowing blue emanated from the doorframe, the man looked concerned.

Worth noticed the lack of zombie. “Where's the zombie?”.  
“Hanna sent him to get something, I don't know what.” The man answered, still staring at the door. 

Conrad was slouched on the banister, Worth jokingly shoved him, causing him to stumble a little. That wouldn’t have effected him that much if he'd fed recently. Worth made a note to force a mug of blood on the vampire when they got back to the RV. If they went by human standards, a pint should keep a vampire going for about a day, but both humans and vampires weren't exactly eating enough nowadays. Conrad was slower too.

“Bastard.” Came from the vampire. 

“What are you?” The man said after a few minutes. “I'm pretty sure you’re not human.”

Conrad’s eyes softened, he didn't like scaring people, “I'm a vampire, not one of the bad ones by the way. I help Hanna.” He jabbed at Worth with his thumb. “You better watch out for him, he's a doctor and human but he's a dick.”

Worth didn't disagree. 

The light stopped, so Worth slammed the door open, hard. The girl was crying, but human again. Hanna was on the floor. 

“Idiot!” Worth yelled. 

“He told me to get this.” A voice came from the door, it was the zombie. He was holding a plant of some kind. “He said to burn it so he breathes in the fumes.”

Worth shrugged, took out his lighter, it was always close at hand. The zombie handed over the plant, Worth lit it. It smoked a lot. He held it in front of Hanna’s unconscious face, letting the smoke into his nostrils. 

Hanna coughed lightly. “Thanks dude.”

-A-

When they'd released the girl, her father weeping and hugging her, the sky was light grey. Conrad squinted with a headache. “I'm going back to the RV.”

He left quickly, Worth keeping pace with him. “Ye sleepy sweetheart?”

“Of course I am, it's dawn.” The vampire grumbled. 

The RV was only a ten minute walk away, Conrad heading straight to the back of the RV to get out of the sun. Worth moved towards the fridge, dinner time for fagula. He took the oldest bag from the fridge, then removed a mug from the cupboard. He poured half of the blood into the mug. He didn't spike it, although he was tempted. 

He held the mug carefully as be opened the door. Conrad was in his underwear, sitting on the bed, he was rubbing his temples. His glasses were on the table next to him, he actually had eyes when they weren't obscured by the thick lenses. He wasn't ugly, well he was, but he had an interesting face, noble. He'd never say that to him though. 

“’Ere. This'll help ya.” Worth said from the door, Conrad looked up at him, suspicious. 

“Oh fuck off.” 

Worth shoved the mug in the vampire's face. “Drink it will ya.” Conrad’s nostrils flared, breathing in the scent of blood. Worth could tell he wanted it, badly, but he was a stubborn bastard. “I can't get it back in the bag Connie, jus’ fuckin’ have it. Ya wearing thin, man's gotta eat.” Conrad glanced at him, relenting. He took the mug, sipping from it. 

“It’s pure.” He mumbled, returning the rim to his lips. He drank again, hungrily this time, the blood running out quicker than he wanted, judging by the dissatisfaction on the vampire's face.   
“Ya want more, Connie?” Worth asked, sincerely. Conrad closed his eyes and nodded slightly. 

Worth left, refilling the mug, this time he nicked his finger, allowing a few drops to fall into the rest of the blood. He wasn't sure why he did it, but it sent a thrill through him. He didn't dwell on it. 

He handed the mug back to Conrad, who took it gratefully. 

“Thanks.” He said. 

“No wuccas.” Worth replied. “Ya gotta take care of yaself.”

“I know.” Conrad drank some more.

“It'll get easier ya know, maybe in a few decades, but yer gonna be able to eat like ya used to.” 

Conrad laughed, “You make me sound like a spoilt brat who’s favourite cookie was sold out.” He finished the blood, longing in his eyes. 

“That's basically what ya are.” Worth took the mug from Conrad, wiping some blood from the inside of the mug on his finger. It was pungent even to him, a horrid iron smell like pennies. 

“Dunno how ya can stomach this stuff.” He said, pushing his finger in Conrad's face, Conrad flinched. 

“Guess it comes with being a vampire, blood drinking is part of the job description. Half the stuff you drink a human couldn't stomach.” He teased. Worth’s finger was still hovering under Conrad's nose. Conrad glanced at him, shrugged and licked the tip of the digit. It reminded Worth of a dog, licking some sauce off a finger as a treat. It reminded Worth of the time he threw a bag of blood out the door make Conrad follow it, it worked. 

“Humans can stomach whiskey, yer idiot.” 

“Not at the volume you do, sweetheart.” Conrad sneered at his faux pet name. 

The back and forth continued, at some point Worth put the mug on the side, at some point Conrad had picked it up, cleaning the inside with his finger and licking it off as they talked. Worth thought of his small donation in there and smiled.

“What?” Conrad remarked. 

“I jus’ like seein’ me inside ya.” He winked. 

Conrad opened his mouth in confusion, looked at the mug, then Worth's finger where the small cut was. “You're fucking weird.” 

Worth shrugged, grinning. “I bet this is some kind of kink for you isn't it.” Worth's grin widened. Conrad rolled his eyes, “Creep.” He dipped his finger in the mug again. 

“Nothin’ hotter than a busty vamp lustin' after ya.” He shuffled closer to Conrad, comically straining his neck to the side. 

Conrad wasn't taking the bait, he just looked him in the eye. Worth decided he'd risk a punch and kissed Conrad on the lips. He wasn't punched. 

-A-

The demon wasn’t gone as easily as they'd thought.   
Hanna came bursting through the bedroom door, it was sunset. “Dudes I think we have a problem.” Conrad covered his head with the covers, groaning loudly. Worth reluctantly manoeuvred himself into a vaguely upright position. 

“Hellspawn back?” It was rhetorical, no way in hell something would be that easy for them. 

“Yeah, and it's decided to take residence in Nicholas!” The concern in Hanna’s eyes was deeper than it should be, that told Worth one thing.

“Ya sayin’ it’s in tha fuckin' zombie?” Fucking zombie was getting in a habit of being possessed.

-A-

The dead man was green, which wasn't new, but he was also swearing, a lot. And on a roof, and half naked.


End file.
